An unprecedented seven Indian male boxers would be participating in the Olympics in London and six of them were in Dublin for a fortnight last month to train for the Games.
Vijender (75kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg), L Devendro Singh (49kg), Manoj Kumar(64kg), Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Jai Bhagwan (60kg) were the ones who trained in Dublin under the watchful eyes of national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu, while Vikas Krishan (69kg) stayed back to give his college exams.
Vijender said he was sceptical about going abroad with just a few weeks left for the Olympics but has come back more assured of his preparations for London.
”I was not sure how it would help us, I thought training in Patiala would be better. But after going there, I realised how much difference it could make to our preparations,” Vijender said after returning to the country.
”It made a huge difference as we got acclimatised to European conditions. It is biting cold there and extreme heat here. So, now when we go to London, we won't exactly be shocked by the weather. It would be easy to adapt,” he said.